The Veteran's metatarsalgia of the left foot, hammertoes of both feet, and lumbar spine disability are granted as service-connected. Her bilateral hip disability is also granted as secondary to her lumbar spine disability.
The deciding factor: Service treatment records document complaints of back pain during deployment and prior to separation from service, which was diagnosed as degenerative disc disease in 2015. The Veteran's current conditions have been linked to these service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- metatarsalgia of the left foot, second, third, and fourth hammertoes of the left foot, third and fourth hammertoes of the right foot, lumbar spine disability (degenerative disc disease), bilateral hip disability (trochanteric pain syndrome)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- March 3, 2023
- Citation
- 23013141
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 23013141.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected bilateral pes planus, metatarsalgia of both feet, plantar fasciitis of both feet, and neuropathy of both feet have been granted effective July 14, 2014. The Veteran also received a separate rating for hammertoes of the right foot (10%) and left foot (10%), as well as arthritis of the first MTP joint of the right and left foot (10%).
- Denied
The Board denied compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for right femoral osteomyelitis, a right hip disability, a right knee disability, and a lumbar spine disability as the Veteran's additional disabilities were not due to carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or some other instance of fault on the part of VA, or because of an event that was not reasonably foreseeable.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for the veteran's left knee, lumbar spine, and bilateral hip degenerative diseases as there was no evidence to support a causal relationship between these conditions and his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent for metatarsalgia of the left foot, as the maximum schedular evaluation is already assigned.
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